Football

FOOTBALL: Money issues forced Roberts' departure

JEFF Roberts quit as manager of Wootton Bassett yesterday after deciding he could not work with the budget imposed on him by the club, writes TOM BASSAM.

The former Calne boss had guided Bassett to 14th place in the Hellenic Premier Division this season and was looking to build on his first season in charge.

“Promises made at the start of the season weren’t really kept, so I’ve mutually agreed with the committee to step down,” Roberts said.

“The club are not paying at all next year, we asked them to meet us a bit of the way, and we’ll help to bring in more sponsorship but they have pulled the money totally.

“We see it in two different views, we wanted to take that next step, and the advice we got was they were happy to be a Division One Hellenic League team.

“Obviously I’m a bit disappointed to have to leave, they backtracked a bit to be honest. Dave (Turner) said last season they didn’t have ambition to move the club forward and we can see that now as well.

“It’s a lovely club to work for, but we have different intentions as to where we want to be.

“I’d like to thank the chairman Andy Walduck for the year we’ve had there, he’s been understanding about what we were trying to do.

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“This was a bit of a pilot year for them to pay a bit of money, and our discipline wasn’t so good, which cost more. So next season they’ve decided to pay nothing at all.”

Roberts believes the budget cut could also see Bassett lose further personnel, adding: “They’ll be a few that follow us as we usually keep the majority of our group, we’ll see what comes up in the next few weeks.”